SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – The Soo Thunderbirds built up a three-goal lead, then needed a Drew Christian tally 2:54 in overtime to withstand a Powassan Voodoos comeback bid, prior to winning 4-3 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League meeting Saturday at John Rhodes Community Centre.
The first period saw Powassan hold the edge in shots, but it went without a goal with the Voodoos’ Logan Coates and the Thunderbirds’ Cameron Boville both flawless in their respective team’s net.
Breaking the deadlock in the first minute of the middle frame, the Soo’s Adam Pszeniczny took a Gavin Killoran pass on a two-on-one and wired a shot off the crossbar that bounced down and into the net.
Notching another at 4:08, Frankie Reda made it 2-0 for the home side when he lifted one in from the top of the right circle.
Another in the period for the T-Birds saw Sean Gresko get the last touch off a rush generated from Christian who had slid into the crease after going down in front.
Powassan got one back at 15:24 thanks to Caleb Dawson, who spun and slid in a backhand at the tail end of a man advantage.
Pulling to within one on another power play effort, Dawson slammed in a loose puck that a sprawled Boville could not locate.
After a Soo goal on a five-on-three early in the third was disallowed, off some confusion on an earlier penalty call, the Voodoos came back to tie it at 11:12 as Owen Head blasted in a pass from Alexandre Saulnier, who had won a race to a loose puck.
In OT, Christian won it for the Soo as he took a flip pass from Nicholas Carlson on an odd-man rush and moved to his right before lifting in the game-winner.
That sees the Thunderbirds improve to 13-4-0-2 overall, while with a point in defeat, the Voodoos dropped to 10-3-2-1.
